I thought Caspar would have the best shot at finishing what had been started. I chose his spells carefully. I had two 1st level spells and one 2nd level spell.

The sun was setting as the magic-user stepped into the mosaic tiled hall.

Yellow, blue, orange.

Caspar stopped in the room with a three armed gargoyle statue.

He pulled three gems out of his pouch.

Jay: I place one gem in each of the palms.LL: The gargoyle hands come to life and crush the gems into dust and then open back up to their original position.Jay: Again with three more gems.

I am not sure how anyone is supposed to figure this out. It is vaguely hinted at in the hidden mosaic message the thief read. If you examine the palms of the gargoyle you discover that “a large gem will fit in a carved depression” in each hand with the exception of the broken arm on the floor. Even so, I have never run a game were someone discovered this.

Thankfully, the premise of this boyscout expedition was that I had clues. I came prepared.

LL: As you place the tenth gem in the hand of the gargoyle it speaks.Gargoyle Statue: Your sacrifice was not in vain. Look to the fourth to find your gain.Jay: I grab the Gem of Seeing from the palm of the broken arm and wipe the magical substance off, so I don’t lose it.

Caspar entered the Great Hall of Spheres and placed the Gem of Seeing up to his eye.

With the help of the Gem, I navigated through the various secret doors in areas G, F, E, D, C, B, and A.

Jay: I stop at A. There’s a warning on the map beyond that door. Being a magic-user, I do my best to memorize all the methods to circumvent these passages. I then head back to the hall and make for the chapel.

A light source was coming down the passage towards Melchior the thief.

Jay: I give him a heads up. I use the Gem of Seeing to locate the secret passage into the chapel and let us both in.

The thief and magic-user both loaded up their large sacks with gold from the third row pews.

Jay: If Tarnhem resets the Tomb of Horrors every night, you could just keep coming back in here. Maybe that’s where the City of Skulls gets its funding.

Caspar took the magic ring from Balthazar and headed towards the wall opposite of the misty arch. He located a small slot with the letter O faintly traced above it. He decided to leave his sack of gold in the chapel. He planned to grab it on the way out.

He dropped the magic ring in the slot and a moving stone block revealed a secret passage. Caspar explained to the others how to navigate the secret doors that would lead them out. They wished Caspar luck as he headed deeper into the Tomb.

Balthazar and Melchior headed back to the Great Hall of Spheres hauling their sacks of gold.